Matt Maurer speaks to Marijuana Business Daily about British Columbia’s plan not to out starting own cannabis production scheme ‘in future’

British Columbia says it could consider establishing its own licensing scheme for cannabis production in the future, however the province currently has no plan to take the unprecedented step.

“It’s too speculative at this point to comment on what a plan could be,” the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General said in a statement to Marijuana Business Daily. “The province could consider this approach in the future.”

Under the Cannabis Act, marijuana production falls under the purview of the federal government, leading experts to question how the province could legally establish its own licensing scheme for MJ manufacturing – and whether it has the capacity to do so.

“Unless the federal government gives provinces and territories the explicit right to grant cultivation licenses, or unless a province or territory is able to successfully argue that under our constitution the right to grant cultivation licenses falls under provincial jurisdiction – which would turn the entire system as we currently know it upside down – I don’t see how a province or territory could unilaterally create its own provincial cultivation licensing system that is distinct from the federal system,” said Matt Maurer of Toronto-based Torkin Manes’ cannabis law group.